"Mohamed Merah, an Islamic extremist who boasted of killing seven people to strike back at France, was shot in the head by police as he jumped out of his apartment after a fierce gunfight with police.

His dramatic death ended a more than 32-hour standoff with an elite police squad trying to capture him alive. The 23-year-old suspect was wanted in the deaths of three paratroopers, three Jewish schoolchildren and a rabbi – all killed since March 11 in what he reportedly told police was an attempt to "bring France to its knees...

Merah had filmed all three killings, and claimed to have posted them online. Police have viewed the videos. The prosecutor said the gunman, in his first killing of a paratrooper March 11, is heard on the video saying "You kill my brothers; I kill you."

When killing two other paratroopers four days later in the nearby town of Montauban, he cried out "Allahu akbar," or "God is great" in Arabic. " Which probably explains these vanilla headlines:

From the NY Times: French Slaying Suspect Dead After Police Raid Hideout.
From the AP: France's interior minister says terror suspect wants to ‘die with weapons in his hands’ as standoff enters second day.
From CNN: French killings suspect dies shooting at police, authorities say.
From the WaPo: Mohammed Merah, Toulouse shooting suspect, dead after police standoff, shootout.